Victoire Weasley: Perfect Life?
by HeyMrsPotter
Summary: Victoire Weasley has the perfect life. Perfect job, perfect house, perfect boyfriend. So why is she unhappy?
1. Chapter 1

To an outsider, Victoire Weasley had the perfect life. She lived in a beautiful cottage in Ottery St Catchpole; a picturesque and serene village mostly inhabited by wizards, with her long-term boyfriend Teddy Lupin. Being an intelligent witch, she had been offered a job at the Ministry shortly after leaving school and had quickly worked her way up from an assistant to a valued member of the Magical Law Enforcement team. She had a large family, boasting a brother and sister as well as a large number of cousins, all of whom she had a close friendship with. The icing on the cake that was Victoire Weasley's life was that she was beautiful: being one-eighth Veela certainly had it's perks. Like the older female generations of her Mum's side of the family, she had long silvery-blonde hair, flawless pale skin and piercing blue eyes.

Yes, Victoire's life was one that was envied by many. However, the many could not see the cracks that lay beneath the perfect surface.

It was true, Victoire and Teddy appeared to be the perfect couple. Childhood sweethearts: they had now been together for five years. They had jumped in to their relationship with both feet, Teddy had confessed his love for Victoire on their first date: she had returned the gesture. When Teddy bought the house in Ottery St Catchpole with the inheritance money from his parents and Grandparents, (Andromeda had unfortunately passed away four years previously) he had asked Victoire to live with him the day she finished Hogwarts and she had immediately accepted. Their fast-paced love had raised several eyebrows and most of the family had expressed concerns; suggesting the couple took things slower. The pair refused; they were in love.

Much to Victoire's frustration, their whirlwind romance had stopped there, it now had all the excitement of a gentle breeze. It wasn't that she didn't love Teddy; she did, with all her heart. She just felt that their relationship had come to a standstill. Her friends from school and work were getting married and having babies with men they had known half the time that she and Teddy had been together, and yet he was showing no signs of wanting to take the next step in their relationship. She had hinted heavily on more than one occasion that she would love to get married, each time with less subtlety and each time it fell on deaf ears. Her frustration with Teddy's lack of commitment had started to cause problems between the pair, she would snap at him unnecessarily and glare at him whenever the topic of marriage or babies was brought up in the company of others. In return, Teddy would voice his confusion and annoyance at his girlfriend's behaviour thus causing an argument.

As if the deterioration of her once perfect relationship wasn't enough to be getting on with, Victoire was also having trouble at work. She had gone from being an assistant to working in the Magical Law Enforcement within a year of being at the Ministry. Her superiors had always been incredibly impressed by her performance, she was punctual, hard-working and always enthusiastic no matter the task she was given. She was offered her current position without having an interview; word-of-mouth had been enough of a reference point for her to be promoted. She had been thrilled to be offered the job, having always been interested in Magical Laws. Her delight in the job increased massively when her favourite cousin, James, began working at the Ministry too. He was two years younger than Victoire but equally as intelligent. When a position had come up for an assistant to her boss, Giles Ambrose; a plump, balding man with a kind smile, she had personally recommended James for the job. Like Victoire, he had started working there as soon as he left Hogwarts and was now working alongside her in the department. They made an excellent team, reports were handed in long before deadlines and they had successfully dealt with everything from splinching floo powder to bewitched broomsticks. The problem now was that she had been in the same job for three years. Higher positions had come and gone, every time Victoire had expressed her interest but the jobs had always gone to someone else, someone 'more experienced'. The first few times this had happened, Victoire had been disappointed but accepted that she hasn't been at the Ministry for long and it was perfectly understandable that those who had been there longer and gained more experience were better suited for the jobs. Lately though, it had become increasingly frustrating, seeing people who were far less intelligent than herself being given jobs they were completely unqualified for. Ever the professional, Victoire would offer them get congratulations whilst inwardly cursing them and imagining them being jinxed.

Soon enough, Victoire and James' boss, Giles, announced that he would be retiring, hinting heavily that they were looking to replace him with someone who already worked in the department. Victoire knew that he was referring to her. This was going to be it; the promotion she had been waiting for, and quite frankly, deserved. Victoire Weasley: Head of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement, it had a certain ring to it.

After finding out the news, she had practically skipped through her front door, calling out for Teddy. She couldn't wait to tell him the news.

"There you are!" she gushed, after finding him in the garden. He was obviously in the middle of de-gnoming, a particularly short and surly looking one shot out of reach whilst Teddy was momentarily distracted by the arrival of his girlfriend; she never failed to take his breath away.

"Bugger!" he cursed, seeing the gnome dart behind a rose bush. "I've been chasing that one for an hour. Nevermind, how was your day love?" he asked, greeting her with a kiss.

"Amazing! Old man Ambrose is retiring. Said they were looking 'internally' for his replacement. This is it Teddy, I'm finally getting my promotion!"

Teddy grinned and pulled Victoire into a tight hug. "That's brilliant! I'm so proud of you, Vic. When do you start?"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure. See, it's not official that the job is mine yet, but they'll be announcing it this week and I just know it's mine."

Teddy's smile faded slightly. "I've got total faith in you babe, but just don't get too excited, yeah?"

"What do you mean, 'don't get too excited'? Do you think they'll give it to someone else?" Victoire's tone was accusatory, she raised her eyebrows at Teddy, who thought carefully before responding.

"No, no of course not. I'm just saying, we've had these thoughts before and it's only ended in disappointment. I would hate for it to happen again, remember: there's not just you in the department."

"I know there's not just me. Think about it logically though; Lucinda only works part time so she can spend time with her kids, she's always said they come first, Andreas has only been there for five minutes, James too. That leaves me. It has to be me this time Teddy."

He took her hand in his and said, "I know, I'm just saying not to get excited until they tell you for sure, that's all."

Victoire pulled her hand from his and glared at him. "You can't just be happy for me, can you? My work life is taking a huge step in the right direction and you have nothing but doubts. At least something is changing around here."

"What-" Teddy began, but Victoire cut him off.

"Just leave it. Thanks for the support." She turned on her heel, hair whipping over her shoulder, and stormed back into the house.

As with all of their fights, Teddy left Victoire alone until she had calmed down enough to be in the same room as him. He knew that this was her way of telling him she was ready for him to talk to her again, she was never the one to initiate their conversation. Sure enough, after Victoire had showered and changed into her pyjamas, she entered the kitchen, where Teddy was sitting at the dining table reading the paper.

"Tea?" he asked her tentatively.

"Please." was her response, with a small smile his way.

Teddy knew that he was forgiven, providing there was no further mention of their argument. He desperately wanted to ask her what she had meant by things changing, but knew her well enough not to ask, it would cause more arguments and he wouldn't find the answers he was looking for anyway. She would tell him in her own time, as always.

Victoire had been right about the announcement at work, just two days after sharing the news of his retirement, Giles had told the team that he would be announcing his successor that afternoon. He had not asked her officially yet, but Victoire had always expressed her desire to become a department head, Giles must have known that there was no need to ask her officially; she would accept the job in a heartbeat.

The morning dragged, as Victoire had expected it to. She and James had finished their paperwork for the week the previous day and, short of an emergency owl arriving, there was nothing to do but wait. James was quiet, busying himself with tidying his desk. Lucinda, a pretty witch in her mid-thirties spent the morning reassuring Victoire that the job was hers, without a doubt; giving her the support that Teddy should have two days ago.

Eventually, the afternoon arrived. Giles had gathered Victoire, James, Andreas and Lucinda in the office they shared together to tell them all the news. Victoire held her breath in anticipation as her boss began to speak.

"As you all know, this week is my last one working at the Ministry. After thirty five years working here, I'm sincerely looking forward to my retirement, though I will miss you all, you're by far my favourite team I've had." he grinned at them as they rolled their eyes, he said that about every team. "As sad as I am to be giving up my post as department head, I have absolute faith that my successor will do a fantastic job; they have never let me down in their time here so far, and I know when I retire, they won't let you down either. As the youngest department head Magical Law Enforcement has ever had, I would like to introduce your new boss," he paused for dramatic effect.

Victoire readied herself to take a step forward, wondering if she should have prepared a speech. Before she could begin to formulate a sentence to thank Giles, he spoke again, saying two words she never expected.

"James Potter."

**a/n This is the first next gen story I've written (its for a writing challenge on HPFF site) I'd love some feedback!**


	2. Chapter 2

As if someone had slowed time down, the news sunk in at a painful pace. Victoire could hear applause and congratulations being offered, see James' shy smile, his face flushed with embarrassment. She, however, was frozen in shock. James? James was the new head of department? Surely this was a mistake, he had only been there for two years; half the time she had.

"Vic? Are you alright?" Andreas' voice pulled Victoire out of her thoughts.  
"Hmm?"

"I said, are you alright? You've been frozen to the spot for ages, we thought you'd been petrified!"

"Oh, yes. Yes I'm fine. Just felt a little dizzy for a second." Victoire stammered. "All better now. Congratulations James, I'm thrilled for you." she tried to inject happiness into her voice and place a smile on her face, despite the furious thoughts racing through her brain.

"Thanks Vic, I think I'm still in shock. Couldn't believe it when Giles told me earlier. It's been so hard keeping it a secret, especially from you."

Realisation dawned: that's why James had been so quiet all day. He had already been offered the job. He had sat and listened to Lucinda telling Victoire that she would be the one getting the promotion, all the while knowing that he would be her boss in a matter of days.

Family obviously meant very little to James Potter. Ironically, family was probably the only reason he got the job in the first place. Of course Harry Potter's son would get the job, how could Victoire have thought otherwise? It paid to be a Potter in the Wizarding world; Albus was set to become captain of the Montrose Magpies, Ginny had been captain of the Holyhead Harpies before retiring from playing and becoming their coach and Harry himself was the most notorious head of the Auror department the Ministry had ever seen. It was only a matter of time before Lily became the youngest ever Misiter for Magic, probably.

After the announcement, Giles took the team out to celebrate his retirement and James' promotion. Though Victoire was hardly in the mood to celebrate anything, her desire for a strong alcoholic drink outweighed her displeasure and so she found herself in the Leaky Cauldron, a large glass of amber firewhisky sat on the table before her. Much to her annoyance, it was a typical busy Friday and the only available table had been a small booth, so she was squashed between an ecstatic James and a tipsy Giles, whose face grew redder with each drink he consumed. As it turned out, Giles was quite the touchy-feely drunk and Victoire had to remove his hand from her knee or her waist more times than she cared to count. Eventually her over-friendly boss and his calloused hands that he couldn't keep to himself caused Victoire to drain drink number five, (or was it six?) make her excuses and leave the pub.

Not wanting to go home and face Teddy, Victoire left the Leaky Cauldron via the back exit and into the walled courtyard that would lead her to Diagon Alley. The fresh air hit her as soon as she stepped outside and Victoire began to feel the effects of the firewhisky. It took several attempts to tap the right brick on the wall that would make the archway appear.

As she walked down the street, occasionally stopping to regain her balance or to try and settle the lightheadedness she was feeling, Victoire's thoughts were once more on the job she hasn't been offered, suddenly feeling a great deal of anger towards Giles. He had certainly shown his true colours tonight; he was nothing more than a pig. A sexist, perverted pig. She was half his age and yet he felt it was appropriate to have his hands all over her! Maybe that was why he had given the job to James, because he was male; a fellow chauvinist. He probably thought that Victoire wouldn't have been able to handle the responsibility and hard-work that came with running a department. He and James had probably smoked cigars whilst laughing at Victoire's deluded thoughts of being promoted. She would show them, she would show perfect Potter that the job should have been hers. He would pay for stealing her promotion. She took a seat outside a small cafe and ordered an Irish coffee, pulled out a price of parchment and quill from her handbag and began plotting furiously.

Three coffees later, Victoire decided it was time to return home and face the music. Against her better judgement, she apparated home. Her destination clear but her determination focused elsewhere and her deliberation hindered slightly by alcohol, she didn't apparate as gracefully as usual, causing her to fall on her backside on her own doorstep, her head banging on the front door of the cottage. The door opened suddenly and Victoire fell backwards into her own hallway, Teddy's slightly blurred face above her.

"Victoire? What on earth are you doing?"

"Hello, handsome." she grinned at him.

"Have you been drinking?" he asked whilst picking her up off the floor and closing the door behind them.

"Just one or a few...give me a kiss Teddy bear." she leaned in with puckered lips, missed his mouth and planted a wet kiss on his ear.

"Vic!" Teddy exclaimed, "what has gotten into you?"

As if suddenly remembering that something was indeed wrong, Victoire straightened herself up and jabbed her finger into Teddy's chest.

"I'll tell you 'what's up' Teddy Lupin. James Potter. That's what. That goody two-shoes has stolen my promotion. Yep, old Gilesy has gone and made him head of department over me. It's because I'm female. Beaten to the post because I've got breasts!" she pointed at them as if to emphasise her point.

"James got the job?" Teddy replied, perplexed.

"Yep. My job. James stinking Potter got my job, just because his Dad's famous."

"Come on, Vic, that's a bit harsh. Just last week you were telling me how great James is considering he's only been there a few years. You said he was as good as you." Teddy knew as soon as the words were out of his mouth that he'd made a grave mistake. Victoire glared at him furiously.

"Oh!" She threw her arms up in the air dramatically, "Oh! So that's how it is. You're taking his side? He deserved the job, is that what you're saying?"

"No, I-"

"He's better than me, is that it?"

"No, not-"

"Don't even speak to me Teddy. Just don't even speak. You've been unsupportive of me since day one, I don't know why I'd expect any more support from you now. I deserve better than this."

Teddy's hair turned a bright shade of red, as it always did when he was angry, but before he could retaliate, Victoire had stormed up the stairs to their bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

Teddy waited in the hallway for a few minutes before moving. He took several deep breaths in, in an attempt to calm down. He knew that Victoire hadn't meant what she had said but that didn't make him any less angry at her words. He had always been supportive of her, each time someone else had been given a job she had applied for, he had taken her out to her favourite restaurant to cheer her up, joined in with her stream of insults towards people he had never met. This was different though, this was James. James who had been like a brother to Teddy his whole life. He couldn't sand by and listen to Victoire insult him. Plus, she was drunk. In the morning she would no doubt feel awful for what she had said about James, and to Teddy. For now though, Teddy was angry and it wasn't going away. He followed in Victoire's footsteps up the stairs and to their room. She was passed out, fully clothed, on top of their bed covers, gentle snores were coming from her mouth, which was wide open. Teddy shook his head, grabbed his pillow and returned back downstairs to sleep on the sofa.

The following morning Victoire was awoken, earlier than she would have liked, by sunlight streaming into the bedroom. She was confused as to why the curtains were opened as Teddy always closed them before going to bed. She rolled over to demand an explanation and found his side of the bed empty, even his pillow was missing. Oh dear. This was not good. The last time Victoire had woken to an empty bed was when Teddy's favourite quidditch team had lost an important game and she had laughed and teased him about it. What had she done? She searched her brain for an explanation but the only thing she got was a blinding, throbbing pain that could only be the result of too much firewhisky. Thinking of the drink brought back a flood of memories from the night before; the Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley, falling on her doorstep. Wait-had that last one been real? She ran her hand down the back of her head and felt a large bump. Yes, that had been real.

Was that what had made Teddy angry? Had he put her to bed and not wanted to sleep with her because she was drunk? No, that couldn't be it, he hadn't minded last Christmas. Then what?

It was no use, Victoire simply couldn't work out what she had done to make him so angry. She got up out of bed and changed into a pair of loose fitting jogging pants and one of Teddy's old t-shirts and slowly descended the stairs. She followed the smell of coffee and, with a sheepish expression on her face, she entered the kitchen to find Teddy sitting at the table, a mug between his hands. He didn't look up.

"Hello..." she mumbled.

"Morning." he replied curtly.

"I'm, um, I'm really sorry about last night. I don't remember what I did, I had too much to drink and I know that's no excuse but it's the best I've got. I promise I'm never drinking firewhisky again."

"So, you don't remember getting home? Our fight?" Teddy finally looked up at her.

"Um, no." she looked at the floor avoiding his gaze

.  
"Would you like me to fill you in?"

"Probably not but I guess you should so I can start apologising profusely."

Teddy told Victoire everything, from her landing on their doorstop to her storming off to bed.

"Oh, Merlin. Ted, I'm so, so sorry. I know you support me, trust me, I wouldn't be where I am without you. I didn't mean any of it at all." the last part wasn't strictly true, Victoire did think that James only got the job because of his dad, but Teddy and James were good friends so Victoire decided to leave that part out.

"It's fine. Let's just forget about it, yeah?" Teddy stood up and walked to Victoire so that he could hug her. He could tell she was being sincere, he knew last night that she hasn't meant it and it was the alcohol talking, he had just wanted an apology.

"Now, go take a shower whilst I make you some breakfast. No offence, love, but you stink."

Victoire hit him playfully and went back upstairs. After showering and dressing she began to feel much better. All that was left to do was to dry her hair, after she had found her handbag which contained her hairbrush. She spotted it in the corner of the room, she must have tossed it there in her drunken state the night before, and began searching for her brush when she noticed a piece of parchment. Pulling it out, she recognised her own curly, albeit slightly messier than usual, handwriting. A title at the top of the page read; '_The Plot: how to steal James Potter's job.'_, followed by a list.

As Victoire read, she couldn't help but applaud her drunk alter-ego: the girl may have been useless at relationships but this was pure genius. A plan began to form in her head. It looked like she would be getting that job after all.


	3. Chapter 3

As if someone had slowed time down, the news sunk in at a painful pace. Victoire could hear applause and congratulations being offered, see James' shy smile, his face flushed with embarrassment. She, however, was frozen in shock. James? James was the new head of department? Surely this was a mistake, he had only been there for two years; half the time she had.

"Vic? Are you alright?" Andreas' voice pulled Victoire out of her thoughts.  
"Hmm?"

"I said, are you alright? You've been frozen to the spot for ages, we thought you'd been petrified!"

"Oh, yes. Yes I'm fine. Just felt a little dizzy for a second." Victoire stammered. "All better now. Congratulations James, I'm thrilled for you." she tried to inject happiness into her voice and place a smile on her face, despite the furious thoughts racing through her brain.

"Thanks Vic, I think I'm still in shock. Couldn't believe it when Giles told me earlier. It's been so hard keeping it a secret, especially from you."

Realisation dawned: that's why James had been so quiet all day. He had already been offered the job. He had sat and listened to Lucinda telling Victoire that she would be the one getting the promotion, all the while knowing that he would be her boss in a matter of days.

Family obviously meant very little to James Potter. Ironically, family was probably the only reason he got the job in the first place. Of course Harry Potter's son would get the job, how could Victoire have thought otherwise? It paid to be a Potter in the Wizarding world; Albus was set to become captain of the Montrose Magpies, Ginny had been captain of the Holyhead Harpies before retiring from playing and becoming their coach and Harry himself was the most notorious head of the Auror department the Ministry had ever seen. It was only a matter of time before Lily became the youngest ever Misiter for Magic, probably.

After the announcement, Giles took the team out to celebrate his retirement and James' promotion. Though Victoire was hardly in the mood to celebrate anything, her desire for a strong alcoholic drink outweighed her displeasure and so she found herself in the Leaky Cauldron, a large glass of amber firewhisky sat on the table before her. Much to her annoyance, it was a typical busy Friday and the only available table had been a small booth, so she was squashed between an ecstatic James and a tipsy Giles, whose face grew redder with each drink he consumed. As it turned out, Giles was quite the touchy-feely drunk and Victoire had to remove his hand from her knee or her waist more times than she cared to count. Eventually her over-friendly boss and his calloused hands that he couldn't keep to himself caused Victoire to drain drink number five, (or was it six?) make her excuses and leave the pub.

Not wanting to go home and face Teddy, Victoire left the Leaky Cauldron via the back exit and into the walled courtyard that would lead her to Diagon Alley. The fresh air hit her as soon as she stepped outside and Victoire began to feel the effects of the firewhisky. It took several attempts to tap the right brick on the wall that would make the archway appear.

As she walked down the street, occasionally stopping to regain her balance or to try and settle the lightheadedness she was feeling, Victoire's thoughts were once more on the job she hasn't been offered, suddenly feeling a great deal of anger towards Giles. He had certainly shown his true colours tonight; he was nothing more than a pig. A sexist, perverted pig. She was half his age and yet he felt it was appropriate to have his hands all over her! Maybe that was why he had given the job to James, because he was male; a fellow chauvinist. He probably thought that Victoire wouldn't have been able to handle the responsibility and hard-work that came with running a department. He and James had probably smoked cigars whilst laughing at Victoire's deluded thoughts of being promoted. She would show them, she would show perfect Potter that the job should have been hers. He would pay for stealing her promotion. She took a seat outside a small cafe and ordered an Irish coffee, pulled out a price of parchment and quill from her handbag and began plotting furiously.

Three coffees later, Victoire decided it was time to return home and face the music. Against her better judgement, she apparated home. Her destination clear but her determination focused elsewhere and her deliberation hindered slightly by alcohol, she didn't apparate as gracefully as usual, causing her to fall on her backside on her own doorstep, her head banging on the front door of the cottage. The door opened suddenly and Victoire fell backwards into her own hallway, Teddy's slightly blurred face above her.

"Victoire? What on earth are you doing?"

"Hello, handsome." she grinned at him.

"Have you been drinking?" he asked whilst picking her up off the floor and closing the door behind them.

"Just one or a few...give me a kiss Teddy bear." she leaned in with puckered lips, missed his mouth and planted a wet kiss on his ear.

"Vic!" Teddy exclaimed, "what has gotten into you?"

As if suddenly remembering that something was indeed wrong, Victoire straightened herself up and jabbed her finger into Teddy's chest.

"I'll tell you 'what's up' Teddy Lupin. James Potter. That's what. That goody two-shoes has stolen my promotion. Yep, old Gilesy has gone and made him head of department over me. It's because I'm female. Beaten to the post because I've got breasts!" she pointed at them as if to emphasise her point.

"James got the job?" Teddy replied, perplexed.

"Yep. My job. James stinking Potter got my job, just because his Dad's famous."

"Come on, Vic, that's a bit harsh. Just last week you were telling me how great James is considering he's only been there a few years. You said he was as good as you." Teddy knew as soon as the words were out of his mouth that he'd made a grave mistake. Victoire glared at him furiously.

"Oh!" She threw her arms up in the air dramatically, "Oh! So that's how it is. You're taking his side? He deserved the job, is that what you're saying?"

"No, I-"

"He's better than me, is that it?"

"No, not-"

"Don't even speak to me Teddy. Just don't even speak. You've been unsupportive of me since day one, I don't know why I'd expect any more support from you now. I deserve better than this."

Teddy's hair turned a bright shade of red, as it always did when he was angry, but before he could retaliate, Victoire had stormed up the stairs to their bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

Teddy waited in the hallway for a few minutes before moving. He took several deep breaths in, in an attempt to calm down. He knew that Victoire hadn't meant what she had said but that didn't make him any less angry at her words. He had always been supportive of her, each time someone else had been given a job she had applied for, he had taken her out to her favourite restaurant to cheer her up, joined in with her stream of insults towards people he had never met. This was different though, this was James. James who had been like a brother to Teddy his whole life. He couldn't sand by and listen to Victoire insult him. Plus, she was drunk. In the morning she would no doubt feel awful for what she had said about James, and to Teddy. For now though, Teddy was angry and it wasn't going away. He followed in Victoire's footsteps up the stairs and to their room. She was passed out, fully clothed, on top of their bed covers, gentle snores were coming from her mouth, which was wide open. Teddy shook his head, grabbed his pillow and returned back downstairs to sleep on the sofa.

The following morning Victoire was awoken, earlier than she would have liked, by sunlight streaming into the bedroom. She was confused as to why the curtains were opened as Teddy always closed them before going to bed. She rolled over to demand an explanation and found his side of the bed empty, even his pillow was missing. Oh dear. This was not good. The last time Victoire had woken to an empty bed was when Teddy's favourite quidditch team had lost an important game and she had laughed and teased him about it. What had she done? She searched her brain for an explanation but the only thing she got was a blinding, throbbing pain that could only be the result of too much firewhisky. Thinking of the drink brought back a flood of memories from the night before; the Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley, falling on her doorstep. Wait-had that last one been real? She ran her hand down the back of her head and felt a large bump. Yes, that had been real.

Was that what had made Teddy angry? Had he put her to bed and not wanted to sleep with her because she was drunk? No, that couldn't be it, he hadn't minded last Christmas. Then what?

It was no use, Victoire simply couldn't work out what she had done to make him so angry. She got up out of bed and changed into a pair of loose fitting jogging pants and one of Teddy's old t-shirts and slowly descended the stairs. She followed the smell of coffee and, with a sheepish expression on her face, she entered the kitchen to find Teddy sitting at the table, a mug between his hands. He didn't look up.

"Hello..." she mumbled.

"Morning." he replied curtly.

"I'm, um, I'm really sorry about last night. I don't remember what I did, I had too much to drink and I know that's no excuse but it's the best I've got. I promise I'm never drinking firewhisky again."

"So, you don't remember getting home? Our fight?" Teddy finally looked up at her.

"Um, no." she looked at the floor avoiding his gaze

.  
"Would you like me to fill you in?"

"Probably not but I guess you should so I can start apologising profusely."

Teddy told Victoire everything, from her landing on their doorstop to her storming off to bed.

"Oh, Merlin. Ted, I'm so, so sorry. I know you support me, trust me, I wouldn't be where I am without you. I didn't mean any of it at all." the last part wasn't strictly true, Victoire did think that James only got the job because of his dad, but Teddy and James were good friends so Victoire decided to leave that part out.

"It's fine. Let's just forget about it, yeah?" Teddy stood up and walked to Victoire so that he could hug her. He could tell she was being sincere, he knew last night that she hasn't meant it and it was the alcohol talking, he had just wanted an apology.

"Now, go take a shower whilst I make you some breakfast. No offence, love, but you stink."

Victoire hit him playfully and went back upstairs. After showering and dressing she began to feel much better. All that was left to do was to dry her hair, after she had found her handbag which contained her hairbrush. She spotted it in the corner of the room, she must have tossed it there in her drunken state the night before, and began searching for her brush when she noticed a piece of parchment. Pulling it out, she recognised her own curly, albeit slightly messier than usual, handwriting. A title at the top of the page read; '_The Plot: how to steal James Potter's job.'_, followed by a list.

As Victoire read, she couldn't help but applaud her drunk alter-ego: the girl may have been useless at relationships but this was pure genius. A plan began to form in her head. It looked like she would be getting that job after all.


End file.
